Don't Forget Chapter 2: Misery Business, a naruto fanfic

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or any of the songs used in this fanfiction...

Summary: They had a bond that they thought could never be broken. Their love for music only seemed to bring them closer together but when their dreams of stardom are close enough to touch, Naruto and Sasuke learn that fame isn't everything. SasuNaru.

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Naruto scribbled furiously into his notebook, everything that had happened and all that he had felt bubbling up inside of him, it felt so good to put them into words, onto paper. The last year had been a hard one for Naruto – what should have been a fun senior year with his best friend and his band had turned into a nightmare…

XXXXX

Naruto and Sasuke had gotten so much closer after forming their band, too close maybe. All Naruto knew was that he wanted to be around Sasuke all the time. His heart would beat faster whenever he entered a room, being close to him was now almost unbearably uncomfortable and comforting all at once. It was as if he was itching to do something or say something to Sasuke but he didn't know exactly what it was and it left him quiet and irritable.

And of course Sasuke would want to know what was wrong with him, but how could he answer when he didn't know himself? So Naruto buried those feelings and he acted as if nothing was different and he fooled a lot of people, hell, he even half fooled himself into believing that everything was the same until she came into the picture.

Sasuke wasn't stupid, he knew when something was wrong with the dobe and this time was no exception. It was almost like Naruto didn't want to be around him anymore but whenever he asked Naruto about it; he acted as if Sasuke was the crazy one and that hurt. Maybe more than he was willing to admit. Sasuke thought that maybe whatever Naruto had was rubbing off on him because he was starting to feel weird around Naruto. He found himself staring at Naruto all the time, he wanted to touch him and it wasn't in a best friend way. Naruto being Naruto didn't notice that Sasuke was acting the same as he.

They didn't call Sasuke a genius for nothing, so figuring out just what was going on was pretty easy. He had romantic feelings for Naruto, feelings that he couldn't easily control, feelings that Sasuke knew he needed to get a handle on. He didn't want anything to mess up what he and Naruto had but he didn't know how long he could ignore how he felt.

Sasuke decided to bite the bullet and tell Naruto how he felt, maybe Naruto's weirdness was the same thing. He had just got up the nerve to spill his guts, when Naruto started acting normal again. He was smiling and joking around like he usually did, he was even talking about possible girlfriend choices with Kiba. Girlfriends, who was Sasuke kidding? Of course Naruto wasn't gay, he was always talking about how cute this pink-haired girl was, her name escaped Sasuke; not that it mattered anyway.

Sasuke decided he needed a distraction and quick. Sasuke being rich, not to mention unbelievably handsome, had fangirls and boys at his beck and call and today was no exception. He decided that the next person, male or female to ask him out would be his new focus, his way of burying his feelings for a certain blonde.

It didn't take long, not long after entering homeroom; he was approached by a pink-haired girl. Sasuke couldn't help but frown in irritation; this was probably one of his most annoying fangirls in the whole school. Sakura Haruno has probably asked Sasuke out a million times since she first saw him in preschool. She was always trying to get close to him and she hated Naruto for stealing all of Sasuke's attention from her. Sasuke would always say no to her date offers but a deal was a deal; today was her lucky day.

"Sasuke? Would you go out with me?" Sakura looked down and tensed for the usual rejection and she was surprised when it didn't come. Was Sasuke actually considering her offer? She looked up and found Sasuke staring at her in silence.

"Hn…" Sakura's eyes widened, was that a yes? She needed clarification, "Is that a yes, Sasuke?" Sasuke almost rolled his eyes; did he have to spell it out?

"Meet me at the movies at eight." Done talking, Sasuke walked away to go sit in his seat next to Naruto, leaving Sakura standing there like a statue. Sasuke was working on some music for a new song when he was nudged by Naruto. Sasuke stopped writing and turned to look at Naruto.

"Hey teme, what was that about with Sakura? You never talk to her and now that you have she looks like she won the lottery." Sasuke shrugged and picked up his pen again, "Hn, I told her I would go on a date with her." Sasuke was looking down at his paper again and therefore didn't see the hurt that flashed in Naruto's eyes.

Naruto quickly pulled himself together, "Really? That's great, I'm always telling you that you need to get out more, I knew you would listen to me sooner or later because I'm always right."

Naruto was so busy deflecting that he didn't notice the stiffening of Sasuke's shoulders at his attitude about the situation. Sasuke wanted to hit something, what had he really been expecting anyway? He guessed that a small part of him was still hoping that Naruto would object and admit that he didn't want Sasuke to date anyone but him. Stupid. Sasuke firmed his resolve, he wouldn't ruin his relationship with Naruto over this, and he was going to move on; no matter how hard it was.

XXXXX

Eight months. It had been eight months since Sasuke had started dating Sakura and they were possibly the worst eight months that Naruto had ever experienced. Everything had changed, it had started that night after Sasuke had told him he was going on a date with her. He thought that Sasuke had meant he was going on a date with Sakura another day but he was wrong. The two of them had a tradition from when they were very young.

Every Friday night Naruto would go over to Sasuke's house and they would have a movie marathon. Sasuke would pretend as if he didn't want to and Naruto would drag him into the movie room where the snacks and movies would already be waiting for them. Naruto showed up the usual time, his sleeping cap in hand and waited for Sasuke to answer the door. But it wasn't he that answered the door, it was Itachi.

"Hey 'tachi, why are you answering the door? Tell Sasuke to get his but down here so we can have movie night!" Itachi looked confused.

"I thought that you guys had decided to do something different? Sasuke went to the movies, with you I thought. Didn't he tell you?" Itachi asked with a raised eyebrow.

It was clear that Naruto had no idea about the change of plans but he tried to laugh it off, "Haha, I was just testing you 'tachi, of course I know about us going out instead of staying in…of course I do. I'm just going to go meet him there. See you later." Naruto quickly turned around and walked away, ignoring Itachi's calls for him to come back. He didn't need Itachi's pity.

Itachi watched Naruto walk away with a blank expression. What was Sasuke doing?

XXXXX

Things seemed to follow that pattern until Sasuke and Naruto barely spent any time alone together. Sakura was always there, attached to Sasuke's arm, at band practice; she even took Naruto's place next to Sasuke when all three of them had a class together.

It probably wouldn't have been as bad if Sakura was a genuinely nice person. It would still hurt to see someone take his place but it made Naruto happy to see Sasuke happy. Sakura didn't care about Sasuke, she just liked the popularity being with him gave her. She seemed to take joy in rubbing the fact that she was Sasuke's girlfriend in Naruto's face. Often making date plans when she knew that Sasuke and Naruto had already made arrangements and other little things to slowly and surely cut Naruto out of Sasuke's life.

Sakura was smart too, so she knew that Naruto liked Sasuke as more than a friend and she was determined to make sure that Sasuke never found out about it. She knew that Sasuke didn't really care about her but she liked the perks of being his girlfriend and she wasn't going to let anything or anyone mess it up. She would mention how much Hinata liked Naruto or how cute a couple they would make and that would usually make Sasuke even more focused on being with her.

Sasuke had noticed that his plan was working, it had done exactly what he had been trying to avoid; it had torn Naruto and him apart. They never spent any time together anymore, he just didn't have time. Sakura wanted to go out all the time and Naruto seemed fine with it if Sakura was to be believed. He was sitting by that Hinata girl now, talking to her, smiling at her; it was driving Sasuke crazy. What did he see in her? Seeing them together just proved to Sasuke that he had been right about Naruto not liking him as anything more than a friend.

But as good a beard as Sakura was, Sasuke knew that something had to be done about this situation. Having Sakura take up all his time, as much as it was hurting his relationship with Naruto, it was hurting the band as well. He and Naruto hadn't written anything together in months. Sasuke felt like a piece of him was missing, no matter their disagreements, Sasuke and Naruto always had their writing, their music.

Sasuke found himself watching the clouds with Shikamaru on the rooftop of the school. He couldn't relax because he still didn't know what to do about his feelings for Naruto or his relationship with Sakura.

He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose before leaning back on his elbows. Shikamaru looked nearly comatose lying beside him so he was no help. Sasuke sighed again.

"Troublesome…you're going to make me ask aren't you?" Shikamaru asked without opening his eyes.

"Hn. I don't know what you're talking about."

"I've never heard you sigh so much in my life let alone the last five minutes. Is this about your feelings for Naruto?" Sasuke stared at him wide eyed.

"How do you know about that?"

"…I'm psychic obviously. It's obvious; why else would you be going out with Sakura of all people?"

"Hn."

"Just tell him how you feel."

"What if he doesn't feel the same? It would ruin everything."

"What if he does? And isn't it already?"

Sasuke knew Shikamaru was right, he had really just confirmed what Sasuke had already figured out for himself. He had really already ruined his relationship with Naruto by neglecting it to be with Sakura. He knew what he had to do.

"Thanks, Shikamaru."

"…troublesome, I didn't do anything."

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Sasuke walked to Sakura's locker where he saw her talking to her best friend Ino, yet another one of his fangirls. Sakura noticed that Ino wasn't paying attention to her anymore but to something behind her. So she turned around to see what it was.

"Sasuke, I'm so glad you're here. I needed to talk to you about our plans for to-"

"Sakura? Can I talk to you, alone?" Sasuke asked, cutting her off. Sakura smiled flirtatiously, "Alone, huh? Beat it Ino." Ino rolled her eyes before grabbing her books from her locker and walking away.

"What did you want to talk to me about, Sasuke?" Sakura asked while batting her eyelashes. Sasuke tried not to roll his eyes and decided to get straight to the point.

"I want to break up."

"You what?" Sakura practically screeched. Luckily for her the hallway was pretty empty this time of day. Sasuke sighed internally; he had hoped that she wasn't going to cause a scene. He wanted to get this over with, he repeated himself.

"I want to break up-"

"I heard that part, what I don't understand is why. I thought we had a good thing going here?"

"You're a nice girl Sakura but-" Sakura knew what was coming but that didn't have to like it.

"There's someone else, right?" Sakura asked quietly.

"…"

"Naruto, right? Sakura smiled a little bitterly at Sasuke's look of surprise, "You think I didn't know how you felt about him, did you? I'm not stupid Sasuke." No matter how much Sakura knew the truth, it still hurt to be rejected. Tears of anger glistened in her emerald green eyes but she refused to let them fall. She gritted her teeth and tried to keep her cool. She still couldn't believe that Sasuke was dumping her for Naruto of all people. As she looked at the perfection that was Uchiha Sasuke, and heard the laughter and snickers of the few people in the hallway, Sakura knew that she wouldn't just let this humiliation slide. She was going to make sure that Sasuke and Naruto would pay for jeopardizing the most important thing in Sakura's little world; her popularity. She could see by the expression in Sasuke's eyes that he wouldn't be moved from his decision but there was more than one way to skin a cat. She would save face for know but she would get back at both Sasuke and Naruto when they least expected it.

"Fine, go be with that loser, see if I care." She glared at Sasuke one last time before stalking away.

As Sasuke watched Sakura walk away with her head held high, he was gratified to realize that his relationship with Sakura was really over. He felt as if a huge weight had been lifted off his chest.

Now for the really hard part: repairing things with Naruto. School was out now and he was ashamed to say that he didn't know what Naruto did with his free time anymore; it had been so long since they had spent any time together.

Sasuke decided to go to Naruto's apartment first and check there. As he knocked on the door and waited for an answer he tried to think of what he was going to say if Naruto was home. Before he could think about it for too much longer, the door was jerked open by the blond in question.

"…Sasuke? What are you doing here?" Naruto spoke slowly, uncertainty in his voice.

"We need to talk, is this a good time?"

"…Um, sure. Are you alone? Where's Sakura?" Not that Naruto wanted her to be with Sasuke but sometimes it wasn't about what he wanted.

"Hn, that's kind of what I wanted to talk to you about, can I come in?"

Naruto nodded and stepped back, allowing Sasuke to enter the apartment ahead of him. He locked the door and followed Sasuke to the living room, settling himself on the sofa across from where Sasuke was sitting.

Naruto waited for Sasuke to speak but when Sasuke just sat there he decided to give him a nudge, "What did you want to talk about and what does Sakura have to do with it?"

"… Naruto … do you remember how you were acting a few months before I started going out with Sakura?"

"…what does that have to do with anything?"

"Everything. I need you to tell me why you were acting differently around me."

"…why should I?" Naruto asked in a low tone. Naruto continued on not giving Sasuke a chance to say anything in response, his tone building in anger and in volume.

"You ignore me for months, months! For a girl that you barely know! Do you know how much it hurt to know that you would rather spend time with her than with me? You don't show your face or say two words to me for almost a whole year and now you wanna know about my feelings? I don't even know who you are anymore."

Sasuke felt lower and lower with each word that Naruto spoke, what had he done? Was it too late to repair things? Sasuke took a deep breath before speaking.

"… I'm sorry." Naruto looked at Sasuke with a expression of surprise on his face; Sasuke rarely apologized unless he really meant it.

"I'm sorry. Please just hear me out. I asked about why you were acting so weird around me is because I felt weird around you too. I felt like every day was dull until I saw you, like a piece of me was missing when you weren't around…" Naruto's eyes were getting wider and wider with each confession.

"…wanted to touch you but not in a best buddy kind of way, you know? And I knew that I liked you as more than just a friend-"

"Why didn't you say something?"

"I had planned to but then you stopped acting that way around me, you started talking about girls that you liked, so I buried my feelings and I decided to focus my feelings on someone else so I wouldn't mess up our relationship-"

"How's that working for you?"

"It's not, which is why I broke up with Sakura today."

"You did?" Naruto couldn't keep the surprise or the happiness out of his voice.

"Hn, I did but there's just one problem."

"What's that?"

"I just told my best guy friend how much I like them as more than a friend and they have yet to say anything back…"

"That is a problem." Naruto who had stood up during his angry tirade moments before slowly walked over to the armchair that Sasuke was sitting in and he slowly climbed on Sasuke until he was straddling him.

Naruto placed his hands on Sasuke's shoulders and Sasuke slowly placed his hands on either side of Naruto's waist. Naruto leaned his head forward until his forehead was resting against Sasuke's, he closed his eyes; Sasuke did the same. They remained like that for a few minutes, finding comfort in just being physically close to each other.

"A few months before you starting dating she-who-must-not-be-named I was feeling things for my best friend I had never felt before. I felt like my heart was going to pound out of my chest whenever I saw you, I felt like something was itching right under my skin whenever we got close so I kept my distance but it was really hard because I wanted to be really, really close to you."

Naruto opened his eyes to find Sasuke's already open. He found himself searching those dark eyes and he could see everything he felt reflected back at him.

"You really hurt me, teme. I thought we promised not to keep secrets no matter how much we think it's going to hurt?" Naruto saw that pain that Sasuke felt for hurting him and he knew he had already forgiven him.

"I'll let you make it up to me; I want you to spend all your time with me, writing music, having movie marathons, taking me out to eat ramen out whenever I want. Though, most of all, I want you to kiss me all the time. Do you think you can handle all that?"

Sasuke was overjoyed that Naruto had forgiven him so quickly and he couldn't help the smirk that came to his face or the twinkle in his eye when heard Naruto's demands, especially the last one.

"Kisses? Whenever you want? I guess I better get started…" With that Sasuke attacked Naruto's face with kisses, starting with his forehead, then his eyelids, cheeks, and nose before stopping.

Naruto smile was huge, he loved when Sasuke teased, it was a rare occurrence, and "You missed a spot."

Sasuke's smirk widened, "I did? I can't imagine what you mean, point it out to me?" Naruto stopped smiling and pointed to his lips.

"Here."

"Are you sure? I thought I kissed you there for sure." Naruto shook his head no and waited patiently.

Sasuke's eyes darkened with intent, losing a bit of their former twinkle before he leaned up to press his lips against Naruto's, letting his hand curl around to the nape of Naruto's neck to play with his hair. He massaged the area a little causing Naruto to moan a little and shift his body closer to Sasuke's.

Naruto and Sasuke's tongues tangled with each other before they used them to thoroughly explore each other's mouths. When Sasuke pulled away Naruto gave a whimper of disappointment and Sasuke nuzzled his neck in response.

Sasuke gave Naruto's neck one last kiss before pulling away and resting his back against the chair.

"So… are we good on the kisses? I wouldn't mind redoing any place I may have missed, you just say the word."

Naruto let out a breathless laugh before leaning forward to rest his face in the crook of Sasuke's neck. He placed a feather light kiss there before speaking again, "Yeah we're good…for now."

XXXXX

And that's how Naruto found himself furiously scribbling away about what had occurred during his senior year of high school. The situation had been really hard for both he and Sasuke but they got through it and now their relationship was stronger than ever as a result. They had been dating for two weeks now and Naruto was on cloud nine. Sure there were people who didn't approve, Sakura being one who disapproved the longest and the loudest but being with Sasuke was like nothing else and it was worth any hardship.

Naruto was actually finishing up the lyrics for their new song. The band had a gig to perform at the prom this evening, so Naruto really needed to get her done. The song was kind of a coming out for him and Sasuke and Naruto for one couldn't wait to perform it.

After spending the rest of the day tweaking the song and the music, their band, The Sound of Dreams was ready to perform. As they waited backstage for their cue, Naruto could barely contain his excitement, he wasn't alone in that. Unlike Sasuke and Shikamaru, Kiba could barely sit still he was so pumped up.

"Ladies and Gentlemen please give it up for The Sound of Dreams!" their principal announced into the microphone. Shikamaru sighed and slowly walked out on the stage, Kiba close behind him. Naruto grabbed Sasuke's arm before he could go out.

"Give me a kiss for luck, teme." Sasuke smirked and did so pulling away with a smacking sound, "Let's have a good show." Naruto smiled and nodded before heading onto the stage, Sasuke following closely behind.

Naruto ran up to the mike with a huge grin on his face, "Hey everyone, we're The Sound of Dreams! We wrote an all new song just for tonight, so this the first time anyone had heard this song anywhere, enjoy!" Naruto nodded to Kiba and he started banging out the intro with his dreams, Sasuke and Shikamaru right there with him on their guitars. Naruto took a deep breath and got ready, the intro was really short.

I'm in the business of misery
Let's take it from the top
She's got a body like an hourglass
That's tickin' like a clock
It's a matter of time before we all run out
When I thought he was mine
She caught him by the mouth

Naruto sung the words almost in staccato, very fast and almost in one breath. His seemingly boundless energy allowed him to bounce around the stage and get the whole audience as excited as he was.

I waited eight long months
She finally set him free
I told him I couldn't lie
He was the only one for me
Two weeks and we had caught on fire
She's got it out for me
But I wear the biggest smile

Naruto ran to the front of the stage to show his biggest grin to the crowd before throwing his head back to belt out the chorus. Him and the rest of the band banging their heads to the beat of the meaty part of the chorus.

Whoa, I never meant to brag
But I got him where I want him now
Whoa, it was never my intention to brag
To steal it all away from you now
But god, does it feel so good
'cause I got him where I want him now
And if you could then you know you would
'cause god, it just feels so
It just feels so good

Second chances, they don't ever matter
People never change
What's a whore, you're nothing more
I'm sorry, that'll never change
And about forgiveness
We're both supposed to have exchanged
I'm sorry, honey, but I passed that up
Now look this way

Well, there's a million other girls who do it just like you

Naruto pointed out to the audience with his microphone at this part and he was rewarded with cheering.

Looking as innocent as possible
To get to who they want and what they like
It's easy if you do it right
Well, I refuse, I refuse, I refuse

After yelling out the last 'I refuse', Naruto grinned at Kiba for his awesome drumming skills before he took a deep breath and went right into the chorus again.

Whoa, I never meant to brag
But I got him where I want him now

Kiba pulled back on the drumming and the sound of Sasuke and Shikamaru's guitar playing really came through.

Whoa, it was never my intention to brag
To steal it all away from you now
But god, does it feel so good
'cause I got him where I want him now
And if you could then you know you would
'cause god, it just feels so
It just feels so good

Naruto held the last note and Sasuke waited while Shikamaru lazily did the riff for the bridge, Kiba drumming along with him. Naruto couldn't help but look at Sasuke when he sung the bridge, this song had so much of them in it.

I watched his wildest dreams come true
And not one of them involving you
Just watch my wildest dreams come true
Not one of them involving

Naruto smiled at Sasuke and he smirked back before coming to stand sideways next to Naruto his back to his as he launched into his guitar solo.

Whoa, I never meant to brag
But I got him where I want him now

Naruto held his microphone out to the crowd and let them sing the chorus back to him, banging his head to the beat.

The song ended with both the drums and the guitars ending all together with three distinct notes. The crowd erupted in a huge cheer and Naruto and the rest of the band took their bows.

"Thank you everyone, you guys were awesome!" Naruto yelled into the mic before he ran off the stage.

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Hey guys, that seemed like a good place to stop. Do let me know what you thought, reviews are the ultimate gift to a writer.